Airline goes bankrupt – the rights to which passengers can rap

Airlines go bankrupt, flights cancelled, or to start only with a large delay: passengers must increasingly reckon with the adverse conditions. The following is a compilation of different situations, and what are the rights of passengers stand.

I bought a plane ticket, but the Airline is insolvent and has cancelled all flights: will I Get back my money?
your chances are low. Usually, passengers remain on the Ticket seats, if an Airline becomes insolvent, says solicitor and travel law expert Rolf Metz. There is also no claim to compensation for transport, the European air passenger rights are in the event of bankruptcy applicable. Customers to be creditors of the Airline, and could register their claim, at best, in the insolvency proceedings. However, this should not be quite easy, if it is a foreign airline. Metz, Rolf, that in General, other creditors would preferably, for example, the employees of the insolvent company. "Anyone who has taken out a travel insurance, you can tackle this and see if this case is assured." You have paid for your ticket with a credit card, you can also contact the card Issuer to check whether a refund is possible.

How does it look if I the flight, not individually, but as part of a package with accommodation I have booked?
Since the tour operators have a duty. "He needs to offer replacement flights," says Franco Muff, Ombudsman of the Swiss travel industry. The customer would have to take any deviations from the booked flight in purchase, for example, other departure times. A flight with a change, instead of the booked applicable, direct flight than acceptable, Muff, as long as the travel data will remain the same. "If the customer declines to an acceptable Alternative, he carries himself with the cancellation costs." The travel Agency offer but only a solution with other flight data, and the customer may not postpone his trip, said that he was obliged to accept the offer, says Muff. "In this case, you can cancel the booking free of charge."

Who pays for the return flight, if I sit for a bankrupt airline abroad?
you Have booked the flight in the context of a package, apply the in the previous answer referred to rules. Otherwise, you are responsible for the return flight is responsible and must pay. A claim for compensation. Switzerland, too, has to fly no law that obliges the state, stranded airline passengers in the back.

you Will be informed of the cancellation less than two weeks before departure, you can request a compensation payment.

However, chances are that you will have to pay a full new Ticket. Between the airlines, the International air transport Association (IATA), there is an agreement, according to which the stranded passengers to special conditions are adopted. With special conditions, and discounted prices. The insolvent Airline, a Swiss company, the Swiss Federal office for civil aviation (Foca) on. It clarifies which airlines are willing to fill in, and then publishes the name of the Airlines on the Website of the Foca. The insolvent airline, when they have booked their seat abroad, you would need to apply to the CAA of the relevant state to find out what Airlines to accept stranded passengers.

The company where I booked a flight, according to media reports in financial difficulties. I would like to take any risk: I Can make the reservation undo?
This depends on the cancellation terms of the airline. In principle, mere notes to financial problems of a company are not a reason to cancel a contract, says travel lawyer Rolf Metz. Because, usually, was not in the Outset, that it'll be due to financial bottlenecks in fact, the insolvency. Whether a travel insurance covers the cancellation costs, if someone makes a preventive reservation, according to Metz, is questionable.

I have booked a flight and now the Airline is telling me that it was cancelled. They offered me a replacement flight, but with different departure times: Must I accept it?
no, that is up to you. You can withdraw from the contract and the money to reclaim. You will be informed of the cancellation less than two weeks before departure, you can rely also on the European air passenger rights and compensation payment. How high this is, depends on the flight distance, however, there are at least 250 euros. If you accept a replacement flight, and the trip was delayed a total of only a few hours, will cut in half the compensation. Learn of the cancellation of the Flight only, if you are already at the airport, has to offer you, the Airline is also food, and if the replacement flight is on the following day, an overnight stay in the hotel.

How to listen, to expect airline passengers more and more often with big delays. Should this happen to me also, what rights do I have?
This depends on the delay and the flight distance. At low flight distances, the delay must be at least two hours, then you have a right to food. With flight distances of more than 1500 kilometres you need to take a long wait before you have something to benefit from. The delay is five hours or more, you can forego the flight and the money back.

you Turn first to the airline, in order to make their claims.

According to the case-law of the European court of justice, passengers benefit from a delay of a minimum of three hours compensation. This is true at least for departures within the EU. Whether the Airlines are also in the case of late departures from Switzerland for a fee, is controversial. In any case, passengers benefit from no compensation if the cancellation or delay is due to exceptional circumstances. In order circumstances, such as severe weather or terrorist attacks, which can affect the Airline itself.

How do I do that to my passenger rights?
Turn you on to the airline, in order to make their claims. This refuses or fails to answer after several weeks you can get to the Foca, and a display. Another possibility would be that you contact a on air passenger rights specialist debt collection Agency, in English: Claim Agency. This calls for in your name, the due compensation from the Airline. As a passenger, you pay either a fee or deliver a part of the earned compensation. (Tages-Anzeiger)

Created: 06.02.2019, 11:59 PM